Johns-Manville Company Limited - 1954 n Monday, May 16, 1954, the sod turn- ing ceremony for the Canadian Johns- Manville Company Limited took place on the 11.5 acre (4.6 ha) site, east of the Canadian Admiral plant. OOfficiating were A. G. Sinclair, vice president and general sales manager of the company’s Canadian Products Division, G. F. Evans, manager of the con- struction unit and F. A. Gallop, district sales manager. The property, Lot 11, Con. 2, SDS, acquired on July 6, 1953, from Frank Whitehead, had been the Caven farm. The one storey warehouse, 160 feet by 250 320 feet (49 m x 98 m) of structural steel framework was finished with corrugated Transite and brick with continuous bands of sash surrounding the buildings. Sod Turning, 1954 (Port Credit Weekly) It was built by Foundation Company of Canada and the steel work was done by the John T. Hepburn and THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE OFFICE BUILDING WAS THE Company. It had a 52,000 square feet (4,831 m2) Ontario sales office with 60 salesmen and the contract department and the second floor, the offices of the Canadian Products Division. warehouse for storage space. A two storey office The company produced roofing materials, acoustic tiles, paper and building fronted the warehouse, 150 feet by 60 feet felt insulations, asbestos textiles, insulation boards, electrical insula- (45 m x 18 m) with 18,000 square feet (1672 m2) of tions, rubber products and installed Transite (asbestos-cement) pipe space. The complete cost came to over $500,000. for water mains. It was the world’s largest producer of asbestos fibre and exported products to all parts of the globe. The company would employ 115 people. The company’s head office was at 199 Bay Street, Toronto. Canadian Johns-Manville, a subsidiary of Johns-Manville Corporation in the United States, began operating in Canada in 1918 at Asbestos, Quebec, where the Jeffery Asbestos Mine was located. It also had operations at Port Union, Scarborough Township, and North Bay. In December, 1954, the head office was moved to the new Lakeview plant. Lakeview: Journey From Yesterday NEWS ITEM Court Divides Schuller Pension Pot The cheques aren’t in the mail, but they are closer to the post office for 4,000 former employees of what was once called Johns-Manville Canada Inc. An Alberta court has approved a formula for sharing $16 million of surplus pension funds with the former hourly and salaried employees after a five year battle. “I wasn’t going to come back if we didn’t get the money,” 79 year old Dorothy Jamieson of Mississauga said after flying to Edmonton for a court hearing Friday. She had worked for the maker of building products for 30 years. The company applied in 1991 to remove $50 million of 251 surplus funds from employee pension plans. But a group of active and former employees took the company to Johns-Manville Building, 1955 (Port Credit Weekly) court and won a surplus-sharing award in 1996. The company, now called Schuller International Canada The company enjoyed many anniversaries over the years. At the Inc., is to get 58 per cent and three groups of pension plan 13th celebration in 1967, Mr. Sinclair commented, “We are very participants are to share the rest. happy to be here. The majority of our employees live in and around Port Credit. We can keep close contacts with the pulse of the Last Friday, Associate Chief Justice Allen Wachowich of Canadian economy by our close proximity to Toronto. We seem to the Court of Queen’s Bench approved a distribution have the best of both worlds here.” method for the largest group, the 4,000 individuals who In the next ten years, this jubilance would wane for when it was qualified from a group of 6,000 former employees. discovered that asbestos was causing health problems, the company “I was just so proud that after all these years, we had was overwhelmed with asbestos claims. In May, 1977, when Jack Cashman was president, the premises was sold to the Canadian won,” said Jamieson, who represented about 1,500 Admiral Corporation next door and the business moved to 295 West Ontario retirees. Mall in Etobicoke. In 1982, it went into receivership and closed down permanently in Canada and returned to Denver, Colorado. The build- James Daw, The Toronto Star ings at 565 Lakeshore Road East were torn down and now the area Tuesday, July 1, 1997 lays fallow next door to a small strip plaza. Part Four 1951 - 2000 Lakeview Choral Society - 1954 252 This photo was taken to conclude the Lakeview Choral Society’s 1953-1954 season with a concert in the Lakeview Central Public School and was featured in the Port Credit Weekly on June 10, 1954. The Lakeview Choral Society was organized by Mrs. Leo Heathcote (center row, second from left) and came together with an executive and committee on March 17, 1948. She was the charter president. The group practised at the Lakeview Beach Public School. Mrs. Muir was the first pianist, followed by Mrs. Neil Matheson (front row, third from right), Mrs. Frank Cavan and Mrs. D. Luke (front row, on the right). The 31-voice choir entertained at senior’s homes, churches and schools in the Township. (Elizabeth Matheson) Lakeview: Journey From Yesterday Hurricane Hazel - 1954 urricane Hazel hit Ontario on Friday, October 15, 1954. The day started off Hwith a steady rain, which as the day progressed became more torrential. By that evening, the hydro, water and telephones were out and by Saturday, everything was swimming in mud. If anyone ventured out, they would get soaked to the 253 skin and be blown off their feet. All across the southern section of the province, branches were broken from the trees and trees were toppled by the ferocious wind, shingles were torn from rooftops The mouth of the Etobicoke Creek, 1949, and the debris would travel for miles (kilometres). (Toronto Conservation Authority) Mrs. Mary Sauer’s car stalled on the Dundas bridge over the Etobicoke Creek and the water THE PLEASANT VALLEY TOURIST COURT WAS HARD HIT AS swept the car up and into the water. It ended up a were many families’ homes located along the banks of the Etobicoke Creek. The camp suffered no casualties, thanks to its owners, Mary mile and a half (2.5 km) down the Creek, battered to and Dante Cuomo, but the Lakeview volunteer firemen suffered a pieces and her body was not found for three days. It narrow escape when their boat was caught up in the tremendous cur- was discovered on the American side of Lake rent of the Creek. Firemen from Cooksville, Port Credit and Clarkson, the Police, Boy Scouts and service clubs were out in full force, assist- Ontario. ing in the evacuation of the stricken areas. The Lakeview Park Public Part Four 1951 - 2000 School was used as one refuge. The Red Cross, Girl Guides, Women’s and playgrounds, $50,000. clubs, Lions and Kiwanis hurried in with food and supplies for emer- In the aftermath of this raging storm that took over 80 lives and left gency relief. Beds were brought in from the Lakeview Canadian Army millions of dollars damage, it generated political awareness that our Ordnance Depot. Reeve Anthony Adamson personally directed the green spaces and watersheds were vibrant necessities to human exis- operation with the help of Ward 1 Councillor Charles Jenkins and tence and needed to be protected. Thus Conservation Authorities M.P. John Palmer. were formed to take over this protective guardianship. And for the According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Hazel is in past half century they have bought up thousands of hectares (acres) of the records as one of the most destructive hurricanes in history. From land to allow future generations to enjoy nature at its best. Friday at 6 a.m. to Saturday 6 a.m., it was the heaviest rainfall On October 15, 2005, the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel recorded in Ontario’s history since September 18, 1948, when 4.25 received a lot of press. inches (11 cm) fell. Previous to that was on July 28, 1897, which had 3.88 inches (10 cm). At the Malton Airport (now the Lester B. Pearson International Airport), 7.20 inches (18 cm) was reported for Hurricane Information Hazel in that 24 hours. Eight inches (20 cm) was recorded in Brampton over a 48 hour period. Some 40 billion gallons Practice for naming hurricanes differs around the world. In the (182,000,000 m2) or 200 million tons (204 million tonnes) of water hit North Atlantic basin, which would affect eastern Canada, hurri- this area, now known as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). canes were identified by their coordinates - longitude and lati- This author has read where there were 358 hurricanes that occurred tude. This was confusing to people and for a safety point of view on the eastern seaboard of North America during the first half of the 254 it was decided to name the hurricanes. Systematic naming began 20th Century. But only 25 caused any affect on Canada. According to in 1953 with female names. Each year the weather bureau starts the Dominion Meteorological Office, only one in 14 hits Ontario and at the beginning of the alphabet, which in the case of 1954 com- one in 45 has ever done any significant damage. menced on June 25th with Hurricane Alice. Hazel was the eighth Hurricane Hazel was the first major tropical storm to make it inland tropical storm of 1954, thus the “H.” Only 21 letters are used - and only one since has given the GTA any major problem.